Guide Note

Politically-charged Southern California punk band Bad Religion has toured and recorded albums fairly consistently since forming in Los Angeles in 1980, while the members were still in high school. (The group disbanded between 1984 and 1986). From that original line-up, only lead singer and lyricist Greg Graffin remains.

Fast Facts

1. Formed: 1980
2. Hometown: Woodland Hills, CA
3. Albums: 14
4. Guitarist Brett Gurewitz is the founder of the band's original label Epitaph Records.
5. Graffin teaches Life Science classes at UCLA part-time
6. Known for the extensive vocabulary used in their lyrics
7. Graffin is an atheist, but some band members profess to belief in God

Early Days

The initial line-up consisted of Greg Graffin on vocals and keyboards, Jay Bentley on bass guitar, Jay Ziskrout on drums and Brett Gurewitz on guitar. The band released their self-titled debut on Epitaph Records, owned and managed by Gurewitz himself, in 1981. A number of line-up changes over the ensuing years, including the loss of co-songwriter and guitarist Gurewitz to drug rehab, prompted the band to split after the release of their Back to the Know EP in 1984.

Reunion and Crossover Success

The original band members regrouped in 1986 to tour and eventually collaborated on the 1988 album Suffer, a release credited in some circles with reviving the Southern California punk scene. No Control, Against the Grain and Generator followed, winning the band a considerable fan following.

For their 1993 release Recipe for Hate, the band moved from Epitaph Records to the much larger "major label" Atlantic. Guerwitz's anger over the band's switch, and his increasing commitments at Epitaph, led him to once again leave the band. Bad Religion's next release, Stranger Than Fiction, was their most profitable ever, with "Infected" and "21st Century Digital Boy" becoming hits on modern rock radio.

The 2000s

In 2001, after a string of reasonably-successful but somewhat disappointing releases, the band shifted back to Epitaph from Atlantic. They have continued releasing new music and touring ever since, with Guerwitz even rejoining the line-up for the 2002 album The Process Of Belief. Bad Religion's latest effort is 2007's New Maps of Hell, which they joined the 2007 Warped Tour to support.

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